


The Promise

by Paige_Turner36



Series: Rumbelle AU [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avonlea - Freeform, Belle’s pet griffin Sahara, Cursed Storybrooke, Episode AU: s01e12 Skin Deep, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Romance, The Dark Castle (Once Upon a Time), True Love, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 03:37:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14907581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paige_Turner36/pseuds/Paige_Turner36
Summary: The mystery of the moonstone ring is solved. Skin Deep AU.





	The Promise

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Kili’s “promise” in _The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug_.
> 
> Rewrite of FTL events of Skin Deep, The Outsider, Lacey, Family Business (no Frozen), Her Handsome Hero and The Changeling.
> 
> Certain dialogue and descriptions taken from _Once Upon a Time: Out of the Past_ and the original Skin Deep script: http://sgtmac7.tumblr.com/post/76493228138/skin-deep-script
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT. This is for fun and not for profit.

How did it all go so wrong?

Belle cradled the chipped cup in her hands, the tea set of undrunk tea sitting on the dungeon floor. Not because she thought it was poisoned, or some hunger strike protest, but because it was Rumple’s cup. Rumple drank from this cup. His lips marked its rim where he sipped. Right now it was the closest thing to Rumple she had with her, to hold, to stroke…to kiss.

The cup that started it all.

All the stories she’d heard about the Dark One, to chip one of his teacups she had expected him to shout at her, skin her, strike her and any number of beastly things. But to look at her with wonder and bemusement over her distress at breaking one of his possessions and then to reassure her that it was “just a cup”, Belle never expected.

And yet it wasn’t a fluke, Rumple had shown her many times glimpses of his good heart behind those scales. When he chose to spare the life of the thief who’d stolen from him so that his child wouldn’t grow up fatherless. Catching her when she pulled the curtains down and let the light in; which remained opened ever since. Even, in his own Rumplestiltskin way, prevented the abduction of Jack and Jill’s baby by the hand of the Black Fairy – the mother who abandoned him – and ensured the future protection of the child and all its descendants against her. 

Belle didn’t only discover that fairies – at least not all fairies – were not the benign beings of good she’d read about, but that Rumple was a tortured soul who needed compassion and understanding.

‘Treat others how you wish to be treated,’ her mother had said.

Belle reached into her apron and pulled out a blue moonstone. Her mothers. Whenever she and her father went on long trips when she was small, her mother gave her this stone as a promise: that she would come back. After her mother died her father had tried to remove all memory of her. Her clothes, her jewels, her books, even her portraits. He couldn’t stand it anymore; the memories everywhere he looked. There was grief and trying to pretend your loved one never existed. The only things Belle had managed to save from her father’s purge were Her Handsome Hero; the first book her mother ever read to her and the moonstone.

Belle remembered when Rumple caught her absently fiddling with the little stone. When he’d asked what it was, she had joked at it was a talisman with a powerful spell upon it, that if read by any but the line of Avonlea would be forever cursed. She smiled at the memory of Rumple’s startled, slightly perturbed look, how quickly he made to leave before she assured him that it was just a token. He’d smiled, amused and impressed by her dramatics, worthy of his own.

Slowly Rumple had opened up to her, telling her of the son he lost. And he in turn had listened to her tale, how she’d wanted to prove that a woman can do more than embroider, arrange the flowers and bear a man’s children. That a woman can make a difference in a man’s world; they could ride, fight, write and lead just as well as the opposite sex. How, as much as she loved her family and her people, Avonlea was indeed a little town, too little, too provincial. She wanted to be someone brave. Fighting battles and saving people and seeing the world and be the hero of her own story after so many years reading about them. As a woman…there weren’t so many chances. Until Rumple arrived. She may not be seeing the world but thanks to her sacrifice she did save her village.

Then the conversation had shifted to hr (ex)fiancé Gaston. Belle couldn’t bear to think of that brute. Her nuptials had practically been decided for her before his name was announced. Belle knew you couldn’t believe everything you hear and that you can’t judge a person until you knew their whole story, but in this case the rumours and her radar had been right. He had played his part well; charming, charismatic, willing to listen to her, assuring her that everything she’d heard were the over exaggerations of his friend LeFou. And yet Belle couldn’t shake off that doubt in her mind. Then they’d encountered the ogre child in the pit. She knew what their kind were capable of and had seen the chaos they’d brought, but saw no mal-intent in this creature. Just a scared child that had wandered too far from home. Of course her father and Gaston hadn’t seen it that way, so to reassure them and herself that her instinct was right, she’d sort out the Mirror of Souls that revealed evil in the person’s soul. And that mirror had revealed the true monster: Gaston.

Because he’d tortured the ogre child, the war had advanced on Avonlea and Belle couldn’t blame them. If she had been tortured like that her father would have declared war on those responsible just for laying a finger on her. But for father to accuse her of being the reason for the war and to sell her into marriage to Gaston for the army he commanded? Had he forgotten what he’d seen in the mirror? He had tried to dress it up saying that she would be a hero as if that would make her jump at the offer. But no matter how badly Belle wanted to be one she would not be manipulated this way. When asked if she would be Gaston’s queen, Belle had replied coldly, ‘I will do my duty,’ making it clear that she was doing this for her people, not to please her father and not because of any affection even in its smallest measure to this man. And not to be seen as a hero. War was upon them and they needed all the help they could get.

Gaston hadn’t even come to rescue her. Belle hadn’t wanted him to, but if someone she loved had been taken she would’ve done everything she could to save them and Rumple had confirmed the end of the war on the first night of her stay. But Belle didn’t care for Gaston, she told Rumple so. Pretty, but useless, which adds up to pretty useless. Love wasn’t a business transaction or arranged marriage. Love is layered. Love is a mystery to be uncovered. She could never give her heart to a man as superficial as Gaston.

Rumple had sat there in his chair and listened, really listened. No glazed eyes, no nodding along but not really listening. He cared about what she thought, he asked questions and Belle didn’t feel like she was monologuing or embarrassed talking about things that mattered to her. He looked so relaxed, like nothing gave him greater pleasure than to listen to her talk, gazing at her as if she were a dream. So at ease in each other’s company it was several moments before she realised they had been gazing into each other’s eyes for several minutes. And that Rumple’s expression had shifted from peaceful serenity to one who had come to a horrible conclusion.

Belle shook herself. ‘But, um, you were going to tell me about your son.’

‘I’ll tell you what,’ said Rumple, the mask of mystery slipping back into place, ‘I’ll make you a deal. Go to town and fetch me some straw. When you return…I’ll share my tale.’

He said it so casually. But this was huge. She was fuckstruck.

‘But – you mean – _town_?’

Rumple nodded.

'You _trust_ me to come back?'

‘Oh no,’ said Rumple softly. ‘I expect I’ll never see you again.’

He was letting her go. Worse, he thought that she would leave and never come back. He seemed so certain that she wouldn’t.

Belle swallowed. He was setting her free, so why did it feel like he was sending her away. ‘Did I do something wrong?’

That cracked the mask. ‘What?’ he croaked.

‘You’re sending me away.’

‘I’m sending you for straw.’

‘With the unfounded certainly that I won’t come back. You’ve always summoned your straw when you spin, you don’t need me to traipse all the way down to the village. Don’t you want me here?’

‘I-’ Rumple obviously hadn’t expected a follow up, but his body language told her clearly that he did, or he would’ve said outright.

‘You don’t want me to stay?’

‘I thought you missed your home?’

‘I did – I do – but do you want me to stay?’

‘I’m not asking you to.’

‘I understand that. But do you want me to stay?’

‘I don’t want you…not to stay.’

‘I _will_ stay if you want me to,’ Belle insisted.

‘I don’t want to be the reason you stay.’

‘Yes, that’s noted. The thing is, you _would_ in fact be the reason I stay, if I stay. How do you feel about that?’

‘…I don’t know,’ Rumple mumbled weakly.

‘Don’t you?’ An uncomfortable silence fell. ‘That’s okay, then. Mull it over, though.’ Belle stood up. ‘I best get ready.’

She’d dressed in her green cloak and retrieved a basket from the kitchen. She had worried that Rumple would avoid her after that awkward conversation. But as she entered the entrance hall he appeared under cover of removing the enchanted fastener that had always told him where she was, in case she’d attempted to run away. Which was never. 

Belle stopped him. ‘Please can I keep it on?’

‘You’re free. You don’t need my shadow hanging over you.’

‘What if I run into trouble on the road?’

‘Just say my name three times and I shall appear.’

‘What if something happens that prevents me from calling you? How will you know if I need you?’

That convinced him. With a wave of his hand he at least removed the tracking spell, but if Belle should find herself in danger he would know. ‘I don’t know why you’d want to keep it.’

‘Because you made it,’ said Belle. ‘I’d like to keep a piece of you with me.’

Rumple swallowed, then made a fuss over her hood. ‘Best keep warm. The forest path is quite damp. Wouldn’t want to catch a cold, would we?’

Belle smiled, blushing as he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. ‘I never said. Thank you. I owe you.’

‘You owe me nothing.’

‘I do want to hear your story.’

‘Then come back,’ said Rumple softly.

‘What if I was coming back for _more_ than a story?’

A pause. Then a small smile curled the corners of Rumple’s mouth.

‘Then we will discuss it further when you’re back.’

‘Good.’

Rumple may not believe she would come back, but she would prove him wrong. She didn’t even have to think. She would retrieve his straw and then return and then they were going to sit down and talk.

_I thought you missed your home?_

Did she? Belle certainly missed it when she first came here. To leave her home, her family, everything she’d ever known, never to see it again. It felt like losing her mother all over again. She remembered how she cried and how it had annoyed Rumple to the point of distraction.

_‘When you so eagerly agreed to come work for me, I assumed you wouldn’t miss your family quite so much.’_

_‘I made my sacrifice for them, of course I miss them, you beast!’_

_‘Yes, yes, of course. But the crying must stop. Night after night! It’s making it very difficult for me to spin! You know I do my best thinking then!’_

_Belle sniffled and Rumple had looked as if he didn’t know what to do with this peculiar crying girl._

_‘Here,’ he said, conjuring a pillow. ‘Perhaps this’ll help.’_

_‘For me?’_

_‘Not quite so beastly now, am I?’ He tossed her the pillow, looking irritable and slightly offended._

_That was a bit harsh, Belle admitted. He didn’t have to give her the pillow – let alone a beautifully embroidered one. He could’ve done other means to silence her; take her voice, remove her tongue, even magically put her to sleep._

_‘Thank you,’ she said gratefully, causing Rumple to stop dead at her sincerity. She hugged her new pillow close. ‘I may be able to get some sleep now.’_

_‘No, no, no, no, it’s not to help you sleep, dearie!’ said Rumple, attempting to cover up his act of kindness. ‘It’s to muffle the crying so I can get back to work!’_

Belle knew the monster façade was all an act by now. Monsters don’t give their maids pillows, or libraries that mysteriously appeared, or reduce their duties to the point where she spent more time reading then cleaning.

Mother used to say that you know when you have a home, when you miss it. Avonlea had been her first home, missing it was natural. Surely with her freedom she should be excited. So why did that feeling of longing and loss seem to get worse the further away from the castle she walked? _You don’t have a home until you miss it._ And being away from Rumple, even for only a couple of hours, Belle had never missed anyone more. The realisation only sealed her decision in returning.

The sound of horses made her turn. A carriage was approaching. Belle moved out of the way but kept walking. The faster she got the straw the faster she could get back to Rumple. Only when the carriage pulled alongside her and reared to a halt did Belle stop, surprised. By the time she realised her mistake, the door of the black carriage opened to reveal Queen Regina, known to all as the Evil Queen.

‘Did my carriage splash you?’ she asked with false sweetness.

‘Oh no, I’m fine,’ said Belle, bowing and making to move on.

‘You know I’m tired of riding,’ said the Queen loudly. ‘Let me stretch my legs and walk with you for a spell.’

That sent Belle’s senses tingling, but she couldn’t refuse as the Queen stepped out, opened her black spider web parasol and walked into step beside her. Belle focused on the road ahead. She didn’t have to engage with her. The Queen felt otherwise.

‘You carry very little,’ the Queen observed, eying the basket.

‘I don’t want to be slowed down,’ said Belle. She didn’t feel like going into her plans, least of all in present company.

‘Oh, running from someone.’ The Queen chuckled darkly. ‘Question is master or lover.’

Belle wished she could blame her blush on the chill in the air.

‘Oh. Master _and_ lover.’

Belle stopped abruptly, feigning tiredness. ‘I might take a rest. You go on ahead.’

‘So if I’m right,’ said the Queen, wrapping her free arm around Belle’s shoulders, forcing her to walk with her, ‘you love your employer, but you’re leaving him?’

There was no getting rid of her.

‘Actually, no,’ said Belle with a smile. ‘I’m merely going to the village to fetch him some straw. I might even pick him up a sweet.’

The Queen looked surprised. ‘You’re not saying you’re _happy_ with him?’

‘Why wouldn’t I be?’

‘My dear, this road only leads away from the Dark Castle, home to the Dark One. I dread to think what goes on up there…’

Belle let her witter on, listing the many horrible things that Rumple was said to have done.

‘…amazing what a dark curse can do to a pure soul,’ sighed the Queen.

‘I’m sorry?’ said Belle distracted.

‘Rumours say he was once a man, a good man who fell prey to the darkest of all curse. A great evil that has taken root in him. A terrible fate, and a terrible curse. But all curses can be broken. A kiss born of True Love will do it.’

Belle stared at her.

‘Oh, Child, no!’ the Queen laughed. ‘I would never suggest a woman to kiss the man who held her captive. What kind of message is _that_? Wouldn’t work anyway.’

‘Why not?’

‘Well, three hundred years – longer some say – with an evil curse eating away at him, I doubt there’s anything human left in him. They don’t call him the Dark One for nothing, just as they don’t call me the Evil Queen for nothing. Who could ever love us? But what do I know? Maybe the Dark One can find love. But _True_ Love? I wouldn’t count on it. Pity. It’s possible that there is a good man there and it’s the curse that is the beast. It’s his only hope. It would’ve freed you both from the beast. True Love’s Kiss will break any curse.’

She let the words hang in the air, like she wanted them to sink in.

‘Well, I think that’s enough walking. I do hope I didn’t bore you.’

‘Not at all,’ said Belle. ‘It was most illuminating.’

‘Excellent. Well, I must be off. Do think about what I said.’

And with that, the Queen swept back into her carriage and rode off. Belle pulled her cloak tightly around herself, touching Rumple’s fastener to calm herself. The Evil Queen was about as subtle as a gun. She knew who Belle was. Belle always stayed out of the way when Rumple made deals, but the Evil Queen was the most frequent. Her last encounter, Belle had overheard Rumple talking to a disguised, very angry Queen, ‘Sorry, do I know you? I already have a maid. Promising girl, actually!’ Belle had smiled to herself at his praise. So the Evil Queen knew Rumple had a maid. Had she been waiting for the opportunity to pounce? And when she had it had been to talk of curses and True Love’s Kiss. The Evil Queen revelled in the suffering of others, why would it matter to her that Rumple was given happiness in its sweetest form: love?

Belle stroked the fastener, pondering her own feelings. She cared about Rumple, he was her dearest friend. Her only friend. She’d had acquaintances in court, but they all thought she was odd. When she had asked Rumple if he thought so too, he had looked bemused, as if the notion was ludicrous. He told her himself that he enjoyed their discussions and that he wouldn’t silence her in a room full of kings. He had taken to spinning in the library whilst she was reading and she had even read aloud to him. He knew how she took her tea, that would magically appear beside her when she was lost in a book.

Just thinking about Rumple warmed her heart. She did love him. She felt she had always known. When did it start? Chipping the teacup…the pillow…the hug in the woods…the library…being rescued from the Queens of Darkness…the Black Fairy…falling into his arms…? It did not matter. All that matter was she loved him. But did Rumple love her? Falling in love was rare enough, but _True Love_? It did not matter. If everyone had True Love, it wouldn’t be so special. As long as Rumple felt the same way about her, that was all that mattered.

Seeing the Dark Castle coming nearer as she returned with the straw filled Belle with joy. She could’ve sworn she saw a figure move from the window of the library. Had Rumple been standing looking out the window all day waiting for her to return? The doors to the dining room opened for her as she carried her cloak and the basket over the threshold, draping the cloak on his chair.

‘Oh, you’re back already?’ said Rumple. He’s super casual and very human-sounding. ‘Good. Good thing. I’m, um, I’m nearly out of straw.’

Belle smiled to herself. She knows his heart is beating out of his chest. She sees how hard he’s breathing, like he’d been running. Not only had he waited for her, but had run all the way downstairs to meet her, seeming to have forgotten he had magic. Belle set the straw down at the wheel.

‘Come on,’ she said through the gap in the wheel, ‘you’re happy that I’m back.’

Rumple learned around to peer at her. ‘I’m not unhappy,’ he said, making Belle smile more.

He turned the wheel, continuing to spin. Belle placed her hands on his shoulders. He tensed for a moment, but relaxed under her fingers.

‘I missed you today, Rumple,’ Belle whispered in his ear.

‘Did you?’ said Rumple nervously.

Belle nodded. ‘It’s not much of an adventure if you’ve no one to share it with.’

‘You only went to the village.’

‘It doesn’t matter the distance. Just stepping outside the front door is an adventure.’ She eyed the wheel. ‘Are you intent on spinning tonight?’

‘Ah, yes,’ said Rumple heavily. ‘I promised you a story.’

‘And you never break a deal. But I was hoping we could talk too.’

‘I suppose I could be distracted.’

‘Excellent.’ And just to be sure, Belle plucked the string from Rumple’s hand, laid it aside and sat down on the stool beside him, unconsciously laying a hand on his leather clad thigh. ‘Tell me about your son.’

Rumple looked like he really wanted to tell her, but seemed to lose his nerve. ‘Uh…I lost him, there’s nothing more to tell, really.’ He nodded, hoping – pleading – that Belle would accept this.

‘And you’ve been alone ever since,’ said Belle sympathetically. ‘That’s how I felt when I lost Mother. She was a huge part of my life and then…it feels as if part of your world has gone.’

Rumple leaned forward, gazing at her intently as if trying to detect a lie. ‘Why did you come back?’ he whispered.

‘You don’t have a home until you miss it. But never has that feeling felt more strong than when I left you. This castle – you – you’re my home, Rumple.’

Rumple’s breath hitched, but he didn’t pull away, gazing at her as if he can’t believe she was real, that she really had come back…for him.

‘What’s wrong?’ said Belle, confused by his startled gasp.

‘No one,’ said Rumple quietly, ‘no woman has ever looked at me like that. Not even my wife.’

Slowly so as not to frighten him, Belle leaned forwards, her eyes darting briefly from his eyes to his lips and back again. Rumple leaned in too. Belle closed her eyes as their lips met in a tender kiss. Feather light but no less thrilling. His lips were soft as they moulded into the shape of her tiny mouth. Of all the stories Belle had read on first kisses, she had worried that they were wrong, or had built up the idea so much in her head that reality could never compete with it. Now, sitting here kissing Rumplestiltskin, the man she loved, Belle knew she’d been right. The kiss may be chaste, but it started a fire in her heart and a fireworks display seemed to be going off in her stomach.

They pulled back enough to break contact with the others lips, but remained close. Belle smiled, eyes still closed, revelling in the afterglow of her first kiss. She heard Rumple’s moan and opened them to gorge his reaction. Rumple’s eyes were closed too, his face was free of pain and sadness. He looked at peace, like he was drifting on a cloud of content. 

Then he grimaced and Belle’s eyes widened as the change started at his lips.

‘What’s happening?’ he muttered.

Belle couldn’t respond. Some fucking magic was happening before her! The scales were vanishing revealing human skin. Belle seized his shoulders to steady him as he swayed slightly. Her touch caused him to open his eyes and they had changed too. They were no longer reptilian but brown. The warmest softest brown eyes she’d ever seen.

‘Look at you!’ Belle breathed, touching his face, patting his hair. ‘It’s changing!’

‘What is?’ Rumple asked, slightly disorientated. First his skin, then his eyes and now his voice. No longer impish, but a soft brogue. How could it be possible to fall in love with someone more and more?

‘Your face,’ Belle explained. ‘You look human.’

_True Love’s Kiss will break any curse._

For a second that contained an eternity Rumple stared at her as the full impact of her words hit him. Words she hadn’t realised she’d spoken out loud. Then at the flick of a switch everything changed –

Rumple jumps back as if burned, the stool clattered across the floor, and his anger seemed to accelerate the transformation back into the lizard-skinned Rumple she’d known over the last few months. The last thing to be consumed were his eyes.

‘Who told you that?!’ Rumple shouted.

Belle was so shocked by the change that she couldn’t speak. What happened to the man before? The imp with a heart of gold before?

‘Who knows that?’ he demanded, pointing a threatening finger at her.

‘I – I don’t know,’ Belle stammered, ‘she, uh – sh-she –’

Rumple, who’d been checking his hands to see if they were still claws, abruptly turned his back on her. ‘ _She_ …’ he hissed murderously, striding to the tall mirror and ripped aside the cover. ‘You – evil – (fucking) – soul! This was _you_! _You_ turned her against me!’ he screamed in anguish, sounding almost human. Belle cautiously moved closer to him. ‘You think you can make me _weak_? You think you can defeat _me_?!’

‘Who are you talking to?’ Belle asked. Was he talking to his reflection or someone she couldn’t see?

‘The Queen!’ Rumple declared dramatically, whirling to face her again. ‘Your friend the Queen!’

The Evil Queen? Her _friend_?

‘How did she get to you?’ Rumple asked softly, the manic grin of a man who thought he’d caught her red-handed. But he had got the wrong end of a very long stick.

‘The Queen? I’m not –’

But Rumple didn’t seem to hear her. He looked like a man possessed, advancing on her slowly, but Belle refused to back down. ‘I knew this was a trick. I knew you could never care for me. Oh yes. You’re working for her – or is this all you? Is this you being the “hero” and killing the beast?’

He was towering over her now, teeth bared. Belle tried to take his hand to reassure him. ‘But it was working –’

‘Shut up!’

‘This means it’s True Love!’

‘Shut the hell up!’

‘Why won’t you believe me?’ Belle cried desperately.

Losing whatever self-control he still had Rumple seized her by her upper arms and shook her roughly, shouting in her face, ‘BECAUSE NO ONE, NO ONE CAN EVER, EVER LOVE ME!’

And with that he threw her in the dungeons. Belle landed hard on the floor and turned to look at him. Outwardly Rumple’s face was a mask of hatred and disgust, but inside, behind his eyes, Belle saw pain and hurt and betrayal. Belle launched herself to her feet and sprinted to the door, but not before Rumple had flicked his wrist and the door slammed and locked just as she reached it. Belle called for him desperately, pounding her fist on the door, begging him to come back, to listen, but he didn’t. When she finally gave up she heard smashing and crashing overhead, punctuated by the howl of a wounded animal. By the sounds of it Rumple was destroying his collection in a fit of rage and pain. It seemed to go on forever until suddenly it stopped. Belle listened for more sounds but heard no more.

Belle paced up and down her cell, trying to think what to do. She had nothing in here to use as a way to open the door and even if she did it was magically sealed. She had to get out, she had to make him see that it wasn’t a lie. There was a cloud of purple smoke and her heart leapt. But when it cleared all that was left behind was a tray bearing a pot of tea and teacup. The chipped teacup. The teacup had survived his fit of destruction. Is that what had caused him to stop? Had he been about to destroy it and found he couldn’t bring himself to? Was that why he threw her down here, so as not to take out his temper on her? Whatever the reason, seeing the chipped cup gave Belle hope.

 

So here she was, sitting in the cell, back resting against her embroidered pillow, the pot of tea left stone cold on the floor and cradling the chipped cup in her hands. It must be morning now, light was streaming in through the tiny high window. Belle jumped as the door unlocked, swung magically open and Rumple strode into the room. His expression was unreadable. Belle swallowed, but met his gaze without fear.

‘So. What happens now?’ Belle asked. ‘Where do we go from here, you and me? What happens now?’

Still he didn’t respond.

‘Rumple?’

Rumple raised his hand and pointed at the open door. ‘Go,’ he growled. Then he turned his back on her, facing the wall, determinedly not looking at her so she couldn’t see his expression. Cold indifference? Or unable to face her leaving?

‘Go?’ Belle repeated.

Rumple shrugged minutely. ‘I don’t want you anymore, Dearie,’ he said, attempting indifference. He was letting her go (again), except this time he really was sending her away from the castle. Fighting back tears, Belle gently set the chipped teacup down, stood up, full of dignity, shook her shirt straight and did as instructed. But when she reached the door she stopped. 

_When you love someone you let them go._

Rumple wanted to think he was throwing her out but, once again, he was setting her free. Because he loves her. He wouldn’t have looked so hurt if he didn’t care.

Belle marched straight back and faced Rumple defiantly. ‘No. It was working!’ Her voice shook a little, but she held it together. ‘True Love’s Kiss takes two! That would never have worked if it was just one-sided. Which means you feel the same about me as I do about you. For that one moment you had happiness; you really believed with all your heart that someone could want you.’

Rumple narrowed his reptilian eyes. Belle was not intimidated.

‘That’s why you really stopped it. Because it was real. And that scared you.’

‘That’s a lie,’ Rumple sneered.

Belle stepped closer, glaring into his eyes. The eyes were the windows to the soul and she would very much like to meet the bastard who’d made Rumple believe that he was unworthy of love, that he didn’t deserve to be loved, that no one could ever love him.

‘Who hurt you, Rumplestiltskin?’

Rumple stiffened, giving himself away.

‘Because whoever that was, whatever they did, that’s not me.’

‘How do you know?’ These words seemed forced from Rumple’s lips without his consent, but he couldn’t take it back. Trying to cover up his mistake he tried to appear cruel and condescending. ‘I’m not a coward, Dearie. It’s quite simple, really. My power means more to me that _you._ ’

Belle moved ever closer. ‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘No it doesn’t. You just don’t think I can love you.’

Rumple said nothing.

‘So I’m just going to have to prove it. I’m staying.’

‘I don’t want you here.’

‘Yes, you do.’

‘I want you to leave.’

‘No you don’t.’

‘I order you to leave!’

‘I’m not your maid anymore. You released me from our deal which gives me absolute freedom to do whatever the hell I like.’

‘A deal which said you would go with me forever. As you said, you’re no longer bound by the terms of our deal.’

‘Exactly. I’m staying with you of my own free will, not by contract or obligation, but because I choose you.’

Rumple seemed to be fighting to find another argument.

‘I could send you away to the deepest dankest swamp. The Infinite Forest.’

‘You could send me away to a Land Without Magic and I’ll still find my way back to you.’

‘I’ll set up wards around the castle; you won’t be able to enter the grounds.’

‘Then I’ll stand outside in the rain until you let me in.’

‘I’ll make you forget me!’

Belle gasped and took an involuntary step back. Even Rumple looked shocked by what he said.

‘You _can’t_ …’ said Belle, her voice trembling.

‘I’ve done it before – I will do. The fairest of them all herself will ask me to help her forget her love, because it’s too painful.’

‘I’m not her.’

‘No,’ Rumple agreed. ‘You’re far fairer than her.’

‘No, I would never want to forget my love, no matter how painful.’

‘It won’t hurt. You’ll just pass out for a moment. When you waken up, you’ll be just fine.’

‘I will have forgotten my True Love, my best friend, my soulmate. How is that fine?’

‘Memories are pain.’

‘Memories make us who we are. The good and the bad. Love isn’t how it is in my books. You can’t see the path ahead and know everything’s going to be okay. It’s hard. You argue, you make up, you laugh, you cry, you struggle and sometimes you feel it doesn’t seem worth it. But it _is_. And that’s the most powerful love story. When two souls defy the odds, fight for each other, overcome their demons and win. Who wants to read about “boy meets girl; they fall in love and live Happily Ever After”? It’s boring. Nothing good worth having in life is easy. Whoever convinced you you’re not worth it, Rumple, they’re wrong. Please. If you do this, they’ll win. You don’t have to be alone anymore. Love is strength.’

‘Love is a weapon. You’ve read it in your books. How the villains take the thing you care about the most and use it against you. I have many enemies, Belle. You’ll forever have a target on your back. They’ll use you to get to me. The Queens of Darkness have already tried and that was for a trifling trinket. What if next time you won’t be so lucky?’

‘Nobody’s ever safe. I’ve never asked you to protect me. This is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me in my whole life. Ever. These moments have been the best days of my life. And they’re _mine_. My choices, my memories make me who I am. And I regret nothing.’

Rumple looked so sad. She was never going to convince him. Belle sighed.

‘Fine. Do what you’ve got to do.’ She stood still and closed her eyes. But just as Rumple raised his hands, falteringly, Belle lifted her own to stop him. ‘But imagine, just imagine how it would feel if someone did this to you. If they made you forget the most important person in your life – your son – even though you know when they did, you wouldn’t know anything different.’

Belle braced herself and closed her eyes again, tears dripping out despite her best efforts to hold them back. She couldn’t see him do it. She didn’t want her last image of Rumple to be him wiping her memory before he faded away like a dream. Not even a dream. He would never have existed. He’d be just a story, the whisper of a trickster who dealt with desperate souls. He would just be the Dark One. The Beast –

Something touched her cheek and her eyes flew open, meeting big, sad tear-filled amber eyes that she would know anywhere and feeling a thumb gently wiping her tears away. The tears came faster and faster now, and her breath hitched on a sob, her hand coming up to cover his, to keep it there.

‘I’d know,’ Rumple whispered. ‘I’d be empty and never know why. I wouldn’t be the same. A part of me would be missing. I’d be lost. There’d be a hole in my heart, with nothing to fill it but the darkness. Taking away someone you love can make anyone dangerous…just imagine what that will do to me. The Dark One without hope, without love. No one will be safe.’

In the blink of an eye Rumple had retreated to the opposite wall, his thumb and finger rubbing together nervously.

‘You can keep your memories.’

‘But you still want me to go,’ said Belle sadly. ‘Then you’ll have to kill me.’

‘What?’ Rumple looked horrified at even the thought.

‘You can’t order me to leave. Send me away, I’ll keep coming back. Shut me out, I’ll wait until you let me in. Since you won’t wipe my memory, or yours…the only option left is to kill me. No one can come back from that. So, if you want rid of me: kill me. Because I’ll die before give up on you.’

‘I would never hurt you, Belle. Ever.’ He sighed. ‘You stubborn beauty.’

‘Nothing will change my mind.’

There was a cooing and a flutter of wings, they looked up to see Dove flying in with a message tied to its leg. It landed on Rumple’s finger. He pulled the letter free and Dove flew off.

‘The seal of Avonlea. It’s for you.’

Rumple handed her the letter. Belle took it, puzzled. She had never received any correspondence from home, by letter or messenger. So what was different this time? She broke the seal and unrolled the letter. Her eyes moved left and right, and with each line they grew wider and wetter and she felt she couldn’t breathe.

‘Papa…’ she breathed. ‘Oh no. He’s _sick_! He may be dying and he’s all alone!’

Why had no one contacted her sooner if he was _this_ ill?

‘Then you must go to him.’

Belle looked up from the letter, shocked. ‘What did you say?’

Rumple looked as worried as she felt. ‘You must go to him. No time to waste. Take the carriage. It will get you there in half the time. Go be with your father. Save him, be at his side. Then…don’t come back.’

‘Rumple -’

‘Not right away,’ said Rumple hastily. ‘You’ve always wanted to see the world. Well, all of it is right out there, beyond these walls. Go when you can. See all the wonders you’ve dreamt of, and when you’ve tasted it all, maybe one day you’ll come back. Go live your dream, Belle. And if…if you come back, I’ll still be here. But take your freedom first. Remember what it’s like to live away from a beast.’

Rumple wanted to give her space, wanted to let her decide. Maybe Belle needed that perspective; maybe she needed to be _certain_ that he was what she wanted. But that didn’t make leaving him any easier.

‘I’ll miss you,’ said Belle.

Rumple hesitated. Then with a cloud of smoke he produced a small ornately carved gold mirror with a long handle. ‘Take this.’ Belle took it, stunned, staring at her own reflection. ‘So you’ll always have a way to look back on me. It’ll only work for you and no one can spy on you through it. We cannot communicate, but…you’ll remember me.’

Belle hugged the mirror close to her chest. ‘Thank you.’

For the second time she made to leave but stopped at the door. Rumple still didn’t truly believe that she would come back. How could she convince him that she will return? Then it hit her. She walked back to him, reaching into her apron pocket. She took his hand, placed it into his palm and closed his fingers around it, forcing him to take it. Rumple’s confusion vanished and his eyes widened in awe and wonder at what she had given him and stared at her.

‘Keep it,’ Belle whispered, holding their clasped hands between them and looking deep into his eyes, ‘…as a promise.’

Rumple couldn’t speak. Belle kissed his cheek and then released him; hurrying out of the dungeon. Rumple was rooted to the spot, his heart hammering, his fist clenched around the object. He opened his fingers revealing the blue moonstone. Blue as Belle’s eyes. Belle’s mother’s moonstone. The moonstone that Belle nearly had a panic attack when she lost it because it had fallen out of a hole in her apron and had hugged him for a full minute when he’d found it. The moonstone that promised, as her mother had promised, that she would come back.

For the second time in two days Rumple forgot he had magic as he hurried on foot out of the dungeons, into the dining room full of broken meaningless treasures and straight to the window. There she goes. The carriage trundled up the drive, carrying Belle further and further away from him. As if she sensed his gaze Belle turned in her seat and watched him as the distance between them grew wider and wider, until the gates closed with a clang behind her. She would return, but that didn’t make this parting any easier. Rumple closed his eyes, unable to stand the Belle-less landscape, a single tear sliding down his cheek.

 

Of all the low, manipulative, malingering, self-satisfied bastards! She would never have believed it of her own father. To pretend he was on his deathbed to trick his daughter into coming home. With the speed of Rumple’s steeds Belle had arrived home in a flash. She’d stumbled out of the carriage, nearly dropping the beautiful mirror he’d given her, only to be greeted at the door by her father. Not at all in ill-health but hale and hearty – disgustingly so – as he enveloped his daughter in a hug that Belle did not return. He pretended he was at deaths door to get her away from that “beast”. He was _proud_! He couldn’t believe it had worked! After Gaston had gone missing he feared the worse, so desperate times called for desperate measures. But it was worth it to see his darling daughter home again, where she belongs.

If there was one thing Belle hated, more than someone she loved toying with her emotions, it was being told what she was or what she wasn’t and what she should do. Her father had no right to tell her where she belonged. She couldn’t even feel concern for Gaston’s fate. She had only agreed to marry him for the sake of her people, now her (ex)fiancé was gone their arrangement was null and void. The doting father look vanished, turning into something very angry. He told her they made an alliance with Gaston’s kingdom and she will honour it. Gaston would be recovered and the wedding would go ahead as planned. He’d then tried to cover up his outburst by saying that it was natural to be upset; she’d been through a terrible ordeal and wasn’t thinking clearly. Why, if he had to escape the clutches of that monster –

‘I didn’t escape, he let me go. He was letting me go before your message arrived and when it did he sent me back to you. Now I can see you’ve made such a miraculous recovery, I can go back.’

‘We can protect you, Belle. The fairies can help us break the contract –’

‘There’s no contract to break. He released me. I chose to be with him.’

A dawning horror flashed across her father’s face. ‘Are you saying you fell in love with him?’

Belle smiled. ‘We shared True Love’s Kiss.’

‘He’s powerless!’

Belle shook her head. ‘The curse’s roots run deep, as does Rumple’s scars.’

‘ _Rumple_?’

‘He’s been hurt and betrayed badly in the past. I hope I can prove to him our love is real –’

‘It can’t be.’ Her father gripped her by the shoulders. ‘Promise that you no longer love him, that you will never see him again.’

Belle threw him off angrily. ‘I’m not a child!’

‘You don’t understand what that man will do to you, what he’s already done!’

‘No _you_ don’t understand! It’s _my_ life!’

‘He’s bewitched you, Belle!’

‘No he hasn’t! That’s ridiculous!’

‘How would you know?’

‘Because I know how I feel! I am _not_ enchanted! Our kiss wouldn’t have worked if it wasn’t real!’

‘You’re under his spell; it’s the only explanation for this behaviour! My daughter would never fall in love with such a monster!’

‘He’s not a monster, Father! _You_ are! You and Gaston! Why don’t _you_ two get married?’

Her father’s face hardened. ‘Then I have no choice. I’m sorry. Until his spell is broken I can’t take anything you say as the truth.’ He turned to a knight. ‘Take her to her room.’

‘Father, what’re you doing?’ said Belle as she struggled against the knight holding her.

‘You’re not yourself, Belle. You need help. I’m sending for Father Frollo.’

‘ _No_! Father! You can’t do this!’

‘He and his clerics will cleanse you of this evil. The curse will be broken and all this will be just an unpleasant dream.’ His father stroked her cheek. ‘You’ll thank me for this, Belle. You’ll see I was right.’

So Belle had been locked in her room waiting for the arrival of the clerics. Belle knew their brand of ‘cleansing’ and it was nothing short of torture in the name of purifying the soul. And Father Frollo was the worst kind of sadist masquerading as a holy man. If Belle didn’t get out of here now she would never be free. She grabbed her satchel and filled it with the only pieces of her old life she couldn’t bear to be parted with: Her Handsome Hero, Rumple’s mirror and a letter opener that she could use as a dagger. She then hurried to the window and whistled. With a screech, her beautiful golden griffin Sahara came sweeping towards her and hovered outside the open window. Belle climbed onto his back, gently kicked his sides and they took off without a backwards glance. Sahara could only take her as far as Avonlea’s borders. Loyal creature as he was, he was trained by her father’s knights and couldn’t disobey the highest authority. Belle kissed her old friend goodbye and watched him take flight.

 

Belle had ended up at a dwarf tavern. There she had met Dreamy, a young dwarf (or young by a dwarf’s lifespan) who, like her, was in love. With a fairy no less. Bossy had dismissed it, arguing that dwarves can’t fall in love any more than fairies. But Belle knew the signs and if her love for Rumple had taught her anything it’s that love knew no boundaries. Anyone can fall in love. And being the Dark One hadn’t stopped Rumple. Dreamy had asked her what being in love feels like.

‘It’s the most wonderful, amazing feeling in the world. Love is hope. It feels our dreams. And if you’re in it, you need to enjoy it, because love doesn’t always last forever.’

It wasn’t over between her and Rumple, she would see him again, but she had seen how fleeting happiness can be. Her mother and father had had a good life, but one tragic night ripped it all apart. The missed opportunities, not taking chances and the thing you wanted was forever out of your reach. Or things ungoverned by you that destroyed what you have, like an ogres war. Nothing lasts forever. Life, love, which was why you needed to savour every moment.

Belle laughed as Dreamy explained how the woman who had caught his eyes, and his heart, had talked about seeing the fireflies, not realising she was inviting him to join her. There was such a Rumple-like look of confusion on his face, it was adorable. Belle knew enough about love to recognise when someone was reaching out. 

The next day, whilst overhearing about a yaoguai running wild and men recruiting volunteers, Dreamy found her and told her that he and Nova were going to run away together. Belle had never felt happier for anyone. But her mind kept wandering back to the sign up. It was everything she’d ever dreamed of: adventure, saving a village from a fearsome creature. But something was holding her back. What if it didn’t work out? What if she messed it up? What if this story didn’t have a happy ending? But just as she encouraged Dreamy to find his dream, so did her new friend urged her to sign up and take a chance.

_Go live your dream, Belle._

With a parting gift of fairy dust, Belle wished the happy couple luck and hurried towards her next adventure.

Her new companions were not to least bit happy to have a woman on board. They mocked her weapon of choice: a book, until she told them that the “silly squiggles” could tell them where to find the yaoguai and demanded she tell them the location. Belle could’ve been petty and given them the wrong direction to punish them, but villager’s lives were at stake, now was not the time for making enemies. But keeping the moral high ground earned her nothing but being thrown off the back of the cart into the dirt, her book tumbling after. Her companions carried on in the direction of the mountains, Belle consulted her book and found that if she took the left fork instead of the right she could get to the yaoguai’s location within an hour instead of two. 

She found the cave in no time, but felt her first attempt could’ve gone better. Her snapping a twig had caused her quarry to flee and she had annoyed a fellow woman hunter who had been tracking the yaoguai for weeks. When she returned to the village to get water, her mad companions had ambushed her, accusing her of sending them off in the wrong direction on purpose and loudly proclaiming that her incompetence was the reason the beast was still at large. 

Thankfully the woman soldier, Mulan, came to her aid and, despite first impressions, agreed to accept Belle’s help in tracking the yaoguai together. But upon finding it Belle was forced to face it alone as Mulan had been injured during the fight earlier. Belle surprised herself that her plan to incapacitate the creature succeeded, dousing the fiery demon in water. But instead of retaliating, the sodden beast appeared to be scratching something in the mud with its claw: _Jiu Wo…Save me._

Belle looked at the yaoguai, its eyes pleaded. He needed help. Using the fairy dust from Dreamy, she’d sprinkled them on the yaoguai. And the smoke cleared revealing…a man! Prince Phillip, who had been turned into a beast by Maleficent to keep him from his True Love, who lay trapped under a sleeping curse. Belle seemed to be finding beasts that were really men under evil curses everywhere! To repay her for his liberation, Belle asked Prince Phillip if he would help heal Mulan. Though they had invited her to join them to find his sleeping beauty, Belle politely declined. She had another beast to face.

Her adventure with the yaoguai had proved that if she can save Prince Phillip she could save Rumple. She pulled out the mirror and whispered his name. The mirror swirled and showed her her Rumple. He was sitting at his spinning wheel as usual, but he wasn’t spinning. He was fiddling with something on his right hand. It looked like a ring. But Rumple never wore jewellery. It was silver (unusual for a man who made gold) and set with a blue stone.

Her moonstone!

He had fashioned her ‘promise’ into a ring so that he could carry her with him. As a reminder. He was stroking it delicately with his thumb. He turned wistfully towards the long table where a tea tray was set. Two cups sat beside the steaming teapot. He had made tea ready for them if she ever walked back in through those doors. He moved over to it and summoned a plate of sandwiches, shook his head and with a wave of his hand replaced them with teacakes. Then he made a business of rotating the teacups, as if it mattered where they picked them up by the handle. He examined his handiwork, rubbing his hands in an ‘I hope she likes it’ sort of way, like he wanted everything to be perfect when she returned.

Belle smiled. Well, he wouldn’t have to wait much longer.

‘I’m coming back, Rumple.’

But she hadn’t even made two steps on the road back to the Dark Castle when her way was blocked by none other than the Evil Queen. And a prison cart. The men she had unintentionally sent on a wild goose chase, humiliated by being beaten by a woman and then stolen their glory by defeating the yaoguai had divulged her whereabouts to the Queen. Her black knights seized Belle and dragged her to the prison cart, there to be taken to the tower.

‘No!’ Belle cried desperately, as they rested her mirror from her and gave it to the Queen. ‘Please! Let me go to him! I can save him!’

‘You already tried and failed,’ said the Queen coldly. ‘That beast is beyond saving. I’m sparing you a lifetime of pain and misery.’

The Evil Queen knew nothing! Not about Rumple and not about her!

‘You can’t keep us apart forever! I’ll fight for him! I’ll never stop fighting for him!’

 

Locked inside a tower, chained to a wall and dressed in a thin blue, indecently cut dress, that did nothing to protect her from the cold and its slit constantly exposed her to the leering guards. She may as well be naked. Why didn’t she go straight home after discovering her father’s deception? Why didn’t she fly Sahara all the way back to the Dark Castle? With a pang of guilt that had nothing to do with food or her growling gut, she thought of Rumple’s tea going cold as another day passed and Belle still hadn’t returned, eating the teacakes alone or simply throwing them away, having no appetite. Then the cycle would begin again; Rumple would think “maybe today’s the day” and prepare for her return, but it never is the day and he would have to face the crushing disappointment all over again. Belle couldn’t be certain; the Evil Queen had stolen her mirror. She couldn’t use it herself, not even as a normal mirror (even her Magic Mirror couldn’t appear in it) but now neither could Belle.

Her routine never changed. The guards came twice a day to bring food and change the chamber pot; otherwise Belle was locked alone around the clock, tracking the time by the rays of the sun filtering in through the window and the tally marks scratched into the wall. The Huntsman came now and then but with his heart stolen he was as much a prisoner as she was. The Evil Queen rarely visited her and when she did it was to smirk at her through a hatch in the door.

Then one day, a tall mirror appeared leaning against the wall revealing a very familiar building. The Dark Castle! Belle moved as close to the mirror as she could, still chained to the wall. The image jostled a little as they marched up the drive, through the front doors and with a wave of a bejewelled hand entered the dining room. Regina. She must have a tiny mirror or something pinned to her dress allowing Belle to see everything from her point of view.

‘Flimsy locks,’ she commented with a laugh.

Rumple, who’d looked up when the door opened, returned wordlessly to his spinning. Once he’d established that it was not Belle. Had he lowered the wards to allow Belle to enter if she ever came back? Everyone was barred, even the fairies couldn’t make it within twenty feet in any direction, only those desperate to make a deal could enter. Why was she showing her this? Belle had no interest in her wanting to deal in regards with an unknown mermaid. Even Rumple wasn’t interested in dealing, least of all with her. Not after the stunt she’d pulled to try and strip him of his powers.

‘What was her name?’ asked Regina as she started to make tea that was intended for her and Rumple. ‘Margie? Verna?’

‘Belle,’ Rumple said softly. Gods how Belle loved how he said her name; with such a loving caress.

‘Right,’ said Regina unimpressed. ‘Well. You can rest assured I had nothing to do with that tragedy.’

Rumple stopped spinning. Belle felt sick. This was why she was showing her this.

‘ _What_ tragedy?’ sad Rumple in a deadly voice. What harm had come to his Belle?

Belle watched as Regina spun him a tale of how she had returned home and found her fiancé had gone missing and that after her stay here, her “association” with him, no one would want her. Her father shunned her, cut her off and shut her out. She was half right; her father may as well have thrown her out after finding out that she’d fallen in love with Rumplestiltskin. She watched Rumple listen to the story, looking shocked and worried at how he thought she’d been treated by her own father.

‘So she needs…a home?’ Rumple asked, looking hopeful.

Regina laughed. ‘He was cruel her,’ she said and there was relish in her voice for the lie. ‘He locked her in a tower and sent in clerics to cleanse her soul with scourges and flaying. After a while she threw herself off the tower.’ She paused for dramatic effect. ‘She died.’

Rumple looked stricken. ‘You’re lying,’ he said, trying to sound calm and certain.

‘Am I?’

Belle watched helplessly, her cheeks wet from the tears she hadn’t noticed fallen from her eyes. She watched the hope slowly die in his eyes, whilst fighting to hold back the tears. He would not breakdown in front of his nemesis. The fact that he believed her without any evidence told her what his expectations of what the world was going to hand to him were. That it doesn’t occur to him that it’s was not true.

‘We’re done,’ Rumple managed to get out, pointing towards the doors which opened, dismissing the Queen.

‘Fine,’ said Regina, setting her undrunk tea on the table. ‘I have other calls to make.’ She swept her hand along the wood, leaving marks in the layer of dust. ‘Hm. The place is looking dusty, Rumple.’ At the door she turned to face Rumple, giving Belle one last look at his tortured face. ‘You should get a new girl.’

Then she left and the mirror went dark, reflecting only Belle’s horrified face. Suddenly blue smoke swirled and a darkly satisfied Evil Queen appeared behind the glass.

‘You see,’ she said as Belle threw her the dirtiest look she could. ‘He will _never_ come for you.’

Belle slept fitfully, her nightmares conjuring up images of Rumple tearing down the tower he believed she’d thrown herself off of, brick by brick, clawing at the earth, desperately looking for proof that it was all a lie, for his Belle couldn’t be dead. Until he unearthed a skeleton in a faded, torn, bloodstained, horribly familiar blue dress. She watched him weep as he cradled her skeleton in his arms.

And then she dreamed of what Rumple might have done once Regina had left. Dropping his brave face, seeming to deflate with the weight of what he’d been told. He walked over to his newly restored collection – the sword dented – and threw open the doors. He took a tiny object from its shelf. He moved to the plinth where the jewelled chalice, so ornate he’d jested it was the Holy Grail, sat and cleared a place of honour, replacing it with…the chipped teacup. The _real_ Holy Grail. Then, unable to hold it in any longer, he started to cry, lamenting the loss of his love.

Belle woke with a start and placed a hand to her chest, over her heart. It wasn’t her own grief she was feeling. True Love binds the heart. Wherever Rumple was, he was heartbroken and in more pain than he was before they made their deal. She had to escape. She didn’t know how, but she would break free and find her way back to Rumple.

*

Regina strode through the Storybrooke Hospital, making straight for the door to the basement. As she tapped the code into the keypad she glanced over at Moe French, formerly known as Maurice, sitting in a wheelchair, bandage around his head, neck brace and his arm in a sling. Mr Gold – Rumple as he’d just admitted – really beat the shit out of him. And all over a silly teacup. Good thing she didn’t tell him to steal that stupid ring of his. If he could do this over a broken piece of crockery, what would he do if he ever found out…? Well, good thing they were in a Land Without Magic. 

Regina pushed open the door and walked down the steps. A severe looking nurse sat behind the desk. She stood up as Regina approached. Regina smiled as she held up one of the two objects she was carrying. A red rose. She took it.

‘Pretty,’ said Nurse Ratched.

‘Well, I know how hard you work,’ said Regina.

It was their little routine every time Regina came to visit, which was rare. Nurse Ratched knew why the Mayor was here and it wasn’t a declaration of love. She eyed the velvet box in her other hand. ‘What’s that?’

Regina opened the lid, showing her its contents. 

‘Beautiful. You shouldn’t have.’

‘Oh, it’s not for you,’ said Regina. ‘Has anyone been to see her?’

‘No, Ma’am. Not today. Not ever,’ said Nurse Ratched. ‘Won’t do her much good in here.’

Regina merely smiled. ‘It was a gift from someone back in the day. Always used to demand for it, remember? Back when she behaved. She has been very good, though. I haven’t heard a peep from her these past few months. Not even the night when Miss Swan came to town. So I brought her a little present, for being such a good girl.’

Regina continued down the corridor. The place gave her the creeps. All the insanity in the air. Even the dead-eyed stare of one mental patient mopping the floor made her skin crawl. She reached the iron door of a cell and lifted the hatch. 

The padded room was almost totally dark, the only light coming from the small window at the top of the wall opposite. A hard stone platform to the right that was meant to be a bed lay empty. Oh but she was there; skulking in the shadows, watching her. Regina took the object out of the box and held it up to the hatch for the occupant to see.

An ornate gold mirror with a long handle.

‘You can have this,’ said Regina, ‘if you’re good.’

There was restless movement from within. First a hand, then a foot, then the small woman who’d been sitting huddled on the floor moved forward, eyes wide and fixed upon the mirror.

‘ _Stay._ ’

The woman stopped, still transfixed by the mirror. Dressed in a dirty hospital gown, her face was half in shadow behind curtains of unkempt brown hair that fell in ragged curls. The deathly pale face threw the dark shadows under her eyes into sharp relief so that they looked like bruises, beneath gaunt, startlingly blue eyes. Eyes that after almost thirty years of captivity still hadn’t lost the fire.

‘You will be good. Won’t you, Belle?’

Belle glared at Regina, but knew one false move and she will never see her mirror again. The Evil Queen – Mayor Mills in this realm – would take it away or smash it. Belle did not care if it still retained its magic or not, it was hers; a gift from her True Love, who was still out there with no idea who he was. And if he did (her Rumple always had a plan) he had no idea she was still alive. While the rest of this town was cursed to forget, she was cursed to remember. The same four walls, the same routine for the last twenty eight years. Then things started to change: time was moving again, the earthquake, Sheriff Graham Humbert “death”. Sooner or later the curse would break and Belle would be free. Free to keep the promise she’d made a lifetime ago. And Belle always kept her promises.

Until that day… 

‘I’ll be good,’ Belle whispered, her voice hoarse from lack of use.

_I’m coming back, Rumple. I promise._

**Author's Note:**

> Gold’s moonstone ring: https://oncepodcast.com/forums/topic/golds-moonstone-ring-and-other-once-jewellery/
> 
> I’ve developed a disliking to the word “coward”, “beast” and A&E’s interpretation of a “hero” – and by extension the book Her Handsome Hero.
> 
> S1-3 Belle was a woman who books broadened her horizons. Her Handsome Hero was the first book her mother ever read to her and why Belle fell in love with books. She looked beyond the surface and had a sense about people. She was smart, resourceful, compassionate and forgiving. She only forgave when Regina when she started making up for the way she treated her personally, not just because the Charmings had forgiven her. And she didn’t forget Hook repeated attempts to kill her.
> 
> S4-6 Belle was obsessed with being a hero, or a hero as Her Handsome Hero interpreted it, and thought she was holier-than-thou. Even when she was wrong she had to be right. She saw the world in black and white, only throwing in shades of grey when it applied to her (using the dagger on Rumple, planning to use the shears to make her son good – the woman who preaches that no one decides her fate etc), she idolized the ‘heroes’ despite them taking advantage of her and Rumple. And when Rumple became the hero she always wanted him to be, or when he did things her way, she didn’t want him or told him that nothing he did would change anything. 
> 
> (All of this I blame A&E for ruining my favourite Disney Princess)
> 
> I tried to bring Belle back to pre-S4 Belle. She wasn’t like Stepford-Swan, if Rumple did something wrong she would tell him so, but – just as the Doctor’s companions were a voice for the audience as well as individual characters in their own right - to me Belle was her own person and a voice for the audience, namely Rumbeller’s, asking the questions that the Heroes wouldn’t bother to ask. And, most importantly, would never stop fighting for Rumple.


End file.
